


To put two and two together

by yunliu



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alpha Huang Renjun, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Established Relationship, Jaemin is a radio dj, M/M, Needs more tags but I don't want to spoil it, Omega Na Jaemin, Scents & Smells, Self-Indulgent, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-01-29 23:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21418717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunliu/pseuds/yunliu
Summary: From his voice, Jaemin could imagine the older scrunching his nose up a tad as he thought for a while. "More... like citrus? Odd, you normally smell like fresh dew."
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 149





	To put two and two together

**Author's Note:**

> This work is dedicated to a person dear to my heart, Bertha. Thank you for reading through my work and sharing your endless ideas with me. 
> 
> A/n: in my work, if there is a female in a straight relationship, regardless of second gender, they will be the baby carrier instead.

Slowly, Jaemin shifted, carefully lifting his hand off Renjun's smaller figure. The older had snuggled up beside him in the night. It was still dark out. He yawned, stretched his hands and shuffled into the kitchen. The cold air radiating from the refrigerator shook him out of his sleepiness. He scrutinized everything. _Maybe he should make kimchi jjigae._

He opened a lunchbox stuffed with kimchi. Immediately, a wave of pungent garlic hit his nose, making his stomach twist. An acidic taste rose up at the back of his mouth. Jaemin shut the lid down at once, taking some time to regain his composure. He stared at the offending food incredulously. Something else would have to do for today. 

He pulled out some anchovies from the other night. In place of what he wanted to make, he made some egg rolls and soup. Jaemin nearly forgot to make lunch for Renjun, though. 

Jaemin placed his hands on his hips and observed the fruits of his meal making. Duh, everything looked delicious as usual, but his stomach was not feeling it today. He still had to go wash up. 

In the midst of him brushing his teeth, Renjun approached him from behind, nosing his scent gland at his neck. Jaemin relaxed more than he usually did. "You smell sweeter," Renjun remarked. 

Shrugging, he stepped out of the bathroom. "I do?" 

From his voice, Jaemin could imagine the older scrunching his nose up a tad as he thought for a while. "More... like citrus? Odd, you normally smell like fresh dew." 

"Maybe your scent is rubbing off me." Jaemin pulled off his thin shirt in place of a jacket. 

The two sat down at the table. Renjun got up to open the fridge, and took out a familiar lunchbox. He opened it with a pop. Jaemin felt like he had swallowed a lemon at the stench. 

The dew in his scent turned sour like spoilt milk. At once, Renjun shoved the kimchi out of sight and turned around to check on his mate. "Hey, are you okay?" Jaemin held up a hand to cover his face, nodding. 

"I'm a little nauseous, that's all." 

Renjun frowned. "You shouldn't have stayed out playing in the rain yesterday. Maybe you've caught something," he said, nevertheless settling down in his chair. He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat. 

Once they finished Renjun thanked him for the meal. "I guess I'll drive today." He went to dig out medicine from the cupboard, passing ones for nausea to a grateful Jaemin. Renjun entwined his fingers through the other's and led him out the door. 

~

It was around afternoon the day after when the next episode occured. Eunbi, his colleague, had just finished their radio timeslot. They went to the company canteen to grab some lunch. Jaemin wasn't a picky man, so he simply let her choose whatever to eat. 

She returned with two portions of salmon rice. Jaemin flinched, pinching his nose. "That," he said, muffled, "--stinks. Get that away from me." Normally Eunbi would not tolerate this behaviour, especially from someone younger, but she saw that his disgust was sincere and quickly left. 

Later, she brought up the incident again. "Jaemin, are you ill?" She leaned forward to press the back of her hand to his forehead for a moment. "Hmm." Then Eunbi leaned in, still seated in her chair, closer, close enough that he could smell her scent of earthy, heavy rain. 

"Careful, noona. My mate won't like the smell of another alpha on me," he warned lightly to mask his slight shock. They were in that awkward position for a while. Eunbi withdrew, staring at him with such a determined glare. Honestly? It scared him. 

Pin-drop silence. 

"I feel like if anything would happen to you, I would kill everyone in this room, then myself." Eunbi stated seriously. "It's a familiar feeling. Maybe something's changing in your body." She used the table as a spring to push herself to the other side of the room on her spin chair, as if nothing had ever happened. 

Jaemin blinked owilishly. He should really get back to reviewing the listeners' letters.

~

Someway, somehow, Donghyuck always managed to drag the pair out to go clubbing every month. Although Jaemin had a higher alcohol tolerance than most, he didn't enjoy drinking. So he was dragged along to babysit them while the rest got drunk out of their minds... not like he minded with Renjun accompanying him, but still. 

The overbearing, intermingling smells of everyone in the club gave Jaemin a headache. He sat by the bar, nursing a cup of lemonade. 

The flashing strobe lights could be seen even when he closed his eyes. Jaemin really needed to get some fresh air. He sent a quick message to the group chat to inform everyone, then went up the stairs to the entrance.

In June, everything felt like it was on fire. It was both hot and humid, the worst possible combination. Jaemin, away from the cool shelter of an air conditioner, sweated like a pig. These days, he felt exhausted although he got enough sleep. He squatted on the ledge of the platform and sighed deeply. Now he felt bloated, and his skinny jeans weren't helping. 

Summer was like... English breakfast tea. 

_Wait, tea?_ And Jaemin shifted to look up to meet the warm, blue eyes of a beta he's never met. 

"What are you doing out here, beautiful?" She asked coolly. He got a whiff of an undertone of cinnamon in her scent. It's probably the smell of her mate. 

Taken aback by her suddenly friendliness, Jaemin mustered a smile. "Feeling a little unwell, that's all." Gosh, his ankles hurt. 

"You could be falling ill. Do you need me to take you to a doctor?" The sweetness of her cinnamon smell peaked. She leaned down to reach a hand to him. 

The sour smell of citrus suddenly sprung up from behind. It quickly becoming overwhelming, almost pungent. Renjun stormed up from behind Jaemin like a rushing wind. The younger froze. 

Renjun bared his teeth at the woman, accompanied by a hasty glare when she backed away. Angrily, Jaemin rose up and pulled on his arm. As he was stronger than Renjun, he managed to pull the alpha behind a good bit. "What on earth was that?!" Jaemin spat, nearly hissing at his mate. He turned to the beta. "I'm so sorry." 

But she backed away without protest. She could have put up a fight if she wanted in her outrage. She simply smiled with understanding, and left. 

It was as if Renjun at flipped a switch. "Stupid, stupid alpha, why'd you growl at her for," Jaemin murmured, running a hand through his hair. "Why'd you consider her a threat? She was pregnant too, and mated." 

Renjun tucked his head into the crook of Jaemin's neck, taking in the sweet fragrance of dew. "I don't know, Minnie. Something just took over me." 

"Why were you even outside in the first place?" 

Jaemin pouted. "I'm feeling ill, I wanna go home, everything's so suffocating." All his words tumbled out in one great heap. Renjun blinked, registering every one, then laughed sweetly. 

"Alright, let's take you home, shall we?" Hopefully Donghyuck wouldn't mind, or Jeno, or his new girlfriend. Oh well. 

~

Renjun woke up to Jaemin clinging onto him like a lifeline, his dark circles the scariest thing he's seen this week. The omega pressed a heating pad to his lower abdomen, and his lips were pressed together in annoyance. In the darkness, he could make out how the other's face was scrunched up. He pulled Jaemin closer and kissed his cheek. 

"Is your heat soon?" Renjun whispered. 

"Angel, it's not due for a good two weeks," Jaemin snorted, then nuzzled his face into Renjun's chest. "I literally leave my calender marked with marked with my heat days up for you to see, but you still don't know."

Renjun patted his head, ignoring his moody jab from earlier. "Do you need me to get you painkillers?"

Latching himself tighter onto him, Jaemin spoke in a half whine. "I don't want you to go. Just let me die here from cramps, it's okay. At least I'll die a happy man." 

Ultimately, Renjun wrestled himself out of Jaemin's strong hold and into the kitchen, found some Advil lying around and passed it to Jaemin. He decided to cook some onion omelette, one of his favourite comfort foods especially when he was ill. It could work for his mate too.

By the time he was done, he went back to the room to wake his mate up. In the span of half an hour, Jaemin had shifted a good lot of their clothes into a pile on the bed, placed some here and there, and he was still nitpicking as to where their laburi plush should be placed. "When I do my radio sessions covered in a mountain of blankets, no one should be surprised anymore," he said. 

Jaemin really needed to eat, despite his limbs' protests. He could practically taste metal in his mouth. From some tooth filling from long ago, perhaps. He ate, thinking about whether he should apply for heat leave in advance. 

"I'm glad you don't smell like dark chocolate or spun sugar," Renjun said while eating. "Else you'd stink up the whole place." So, he'd rather have the apartment smell like spring has come, months late... as least he didn't smell like an orange, like Renjun, Jaemin thought. 

He absently placed a spoonful of rice into his mouth. His preheat symptoms weren't normally this severe. Since he had a mate, he didn't bother taking suppressants, but he often took medication to reduce the side effects. It could be that his body was becoming more resistant to the medication as time went on. Jaemin decided to go visit the pharmacy the next time he could. 

~

He ended up going to work anyway, despite his discomfort. The office kept plenty of spare blankets in the storeroom. With that, he managed to make a makeshift nest for himself and could carry out the radio broadcast in relative comfort. 

As Renjun had the car, Jaemin found some time to hop by the pharmacy near his workplace since his mate's work ended later. He'd rather go there than any other pharmacy. Besides, Eunbi's mate, Moonbin worked there. The beta was very friendly, always treating Jaemin like a younger brother. Eunbi tagged along. She wanted to go pick up some panadol anyway. 

The door opened with a tinkle. Not many people were there. "Hey, you two," Moonbin greeted from the counter. 

She went off to another section in the store. "What can I do for you today?" Moonbin asked. Jaemin didn't bother with reading all the labels on drugstore medication. Since he had a pharmacist at his disposal, he may as well take advantage of it. 

He told Moonbin all the details. The older nodded after every statement without interruption. "Yeah. So that's what happened to me for the past week or so. The medication you recommended me probably doesn't work anymore." 

Moonbin stared off into space for a moment. Eunbi came back. He motioned her over, talking in hushed whispers. They talked and talked. 

Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. What were they so secretive for? The two of them finally ended their conversation, turning around with wide eyes. 

"Jaemin," Eunbi began carefully. "This might sound invasive, but... when was the last time you had your heat?" 

He let out a quick bark of laughter, then stopped. _Oh wait, they were serious?_ The beta and alpha's gazes were unwavering, making Jaemin uncomfortable, like a cornered animal. "It's not supposed to be due for half month." 

Eunbi and Moonbin immediately shot around to look at each other again, this time with wider eyes. It was as if they were communicating telepathically. Last he checked, he couldn't do that with Renjun. Unfair. 

"I'm sorry for putting you in a spot," The beta said apologetically. "It's just that, the symptoms you have of remind me of the early stages when Eunbi was pregnant." He already began ringing up some pregnancy tests. "Why don't you go and wait until when your heat hits? Then you can get back to me." 

Jaemin gawked. Not at the situation he was in, but at the possibility of _having another life inside of him_. How was he going to face Renjun on the drive back?

~

In the car, he rested his head against the car window, brought a pillow to his stomach and didn't say a word. "Have you eaten dinner yet?" The stifling silence in the car could have been taken for him sleeping, because Renjun didn't speak any more after that on their drive home.

The pregnancy tests in Jaemin's bag made it feel like a dead weight. It rested between his feet on the floor. He moved a splayed hand to his abdomen. There could be another person there. Children had always been something Jaemin wanted, but it appeared so far off in the future. When he was crushing badly on Renjun, he had even written down about how'd they have two children after they turned thirty.

How far was he along? Two weeks? Jaemin counted the dates in his head. If that was the case, and if his pregnancy ran its due course, the baby would be born around... mid March. The same month when Renjun was born. His child and his mate would have their birthdays really close. Whoa. Actually thinking about it made it sound better. His heart fluttered at the thought. 

Jaemin got in first and turned on all the lights in their apartment, lighting up the whole place. At this time he enjoyed going out for his nightly gym sessions, but this time he was too tired to care. He clambered onto the couch, sinking into the soft material. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Renjun shoot him a concerned look before going to wash up. 

The omega dug through his bag, taking out one of the pregnancy tests. It's innocent looking enough, with clean white packaging and straightforward font. Moonbin had got him five of them. Using one now wouldn't hurt. 

He scurried to the other toilet and carried out the test. Jaemin perched at the edge of the toilet seat like a bird, grasping the pink plastic stick in his hand, waiting for those fateful lines to appear. He held his breath. 

Stuttering into colour, the first line appeared.  
The next one... Jaemin glared at the next line. It was barely there. If he blinked, he would have missed it. So was he with child or not? He sunk down, frustrated, ankles beginning to ache yet again. 

_Screw this._ He kicked the bathroom door open with a loud bang. Unknowingly, he gave Renjun a fright, who was trying to make fried rice in the kitchen. The older nearly dropped the wooden spoon he was using.

~ 

Another day, he made another nest. This time, Jaemin made one in the living room. He had taken out those ugly floral curtains in their bedroom, using it as flooring. Renjun had already taken the liberty of calling his mate's employer to tell her in advance about his scheduled heat. 

"You sure you'll be fine on your own?" The older stood in the doorway of their bedroom, arms crossed. 

"Of course I'll be fine. I've been managing my heats for a good few years without you, you know," Jaemin grumbled, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. "You're gonna be late for work. Shoo."

Renjun was reluctantly shoved out of the door and out of the house. Jaemin settled back into his nest of clothes, pulling one of Renjun's sweater from the masses and burying his nose into it. He could feel his cramps finally ease up at smelling the traces of his mate's calming scent. His eyes fluttered shut. 

He was a light sleeper. But this time, he slept like the dead. 

He managed to sleep a good eight hours at night. Then Jaemin slumbered until early dinnertime, as if the night before wasn't enough. He was surprised that he didn't wake up feeling sweaty or extremely uncomfortable. Maybe his heat was late, but it was never late. It was always punctual.

_"Why don't you go and wait until when your heat hits? Then you can get back to me."_ The memory of Moonbin's words played back in his mind.

Jaemin abruptly sat upright, cross-legged. Where exactly did he stash away that pile of tests? He got up and headed to the medicine cupboard, pushing it open. Lo and behold, it wasn't there. 

He scratched his head. Maybe he placed it in the closet. Thankfully, he found them there. He decided that he had to use every one, just to make sure. 

Once he was done, he placed all the tests on the bathroom floor, and waited. The instruction leaflet said to wait three minutes or so. 

First one. Positive. Okay, second one, positive... third one, positive. He didn't even finish glancing at the fourth one before he leapt to the door and out of the house, pocketing a pregnancy test into his sweatpants. He picked up his trusty bicycle, going about on his merry way. He hadn't really thought about going out in a tank top. To hell with that! If anyone was bothered by an omega dressed like this, they had to mind their own business. 

Without fail, Renjun always went to pick up herbal soup for him on the first days of his heats from a store fifteen minutes away. If Jaemin's intuition was right, he would be there. He cycled there at breakneck speed despite the many people returning home from work on the streets.

Their car was parked outside the store. Jaemin got off his bicycle, leaning it against his car. The adrenaline he had initially wore off. He gingerly pushed the glass door open. A fragrant aroma of spices lingered in the air in the restaurant, making Jaemin's stomach rumble. 

He could see Renjun's smaller figure sitting by the table nearest to the cashier, an elderly woman. They were talking in Chinese. Jaemin approached them hesitantly. The alpha must have smelt him already, because he turned his head in his direction, and she did, too. 

Renjun stood up in surprise. "Jaemin, what are you doing here?" He dressed up nicely in his work attire, still in the blue button down he was in from this morning. 

"Um." For the first time in a long while, Jaemin was at a loss for words. He fumbled for the test in his pocket, flipping it over to show his mate. "I came here to tell you that I'm pregnant." 

Renjun went forward, wrapped his arm around Jaemin's shoulder and pulled him close into a hug, as if they'd never been apart. The taller buried his face into his shoulder, appreciating his calming citrus scent underneath one of cheap cologne. He felt smaller in his arms: his heart rate jumped. "I can't say that I'm surprised," he said.

Jaemin curiously peeked up with big eyes. "I saw your stash of tests in the cupboard. I had a feeling that if you were pregnant, you'd know." Renjun smiled back shyly at his gentle, unwavering gaze. "Plus, all the symptoms from the past month or so finally made sense. I simply put two and two together." 

The elderly Chinese lady patted Renjun on the back once the two parted from their hug. "Good! You two must be hungry. I'll give you both some black chicken soup on the house." 

Jaemin grinned boyishly at her. "Good, 'cause I'm starving."

~

They left the small eatery with full stomachs. "How did you get here, by the way?" Renjun asked, before laying eyes on the rusty bicycle parked next to their car. He turned around to give Jaemin a sharp glare, who chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. "You know that the bicycle can't fit in the car boot, right?"

Shrugging, Jaemin walked towards his bike. "I guess I'll just have to cycle." 

Renjun quickly stopped him. "No." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm not letting you bike home in this state. You can take the car." 

Seeing his ruffled mate, clad in his fancy dress shoes and all, cycling, from the car window made Jaemin suppress a giggle. Once they reached a junction, he rested his forehead against the wheel to hide how amused he was. The car let out a honk. Renjun could take it as his laughter, ha. He sped ahead, slower than normal. Jaemin absently brushed a hand over his abdomen. "Your dad is being silly. If you could look at him, baby, you'd laugh too."

Thinking about bringing another life in the world frightened and excited him. How would he manage? Lami, the new intern, could take over for him at work. When Eunbi's new baby was still a few months old, she brought him a lot to work to take care of him. Hina would be delighted to have another child in the place. He could see her bright smile already. 

He reached behind to grab a tissue, meeting the eyes of Renjun in the reach of the back window. The older rolled his eyes, but his lips curved up into a smile. 

Another person in their two person house? If Renjun was by his side... it didn't sound that bad. If Jaemin wanted to reach for the stars, Renjun would help him build a rocket to get to space. Or he'd call him stupid and tell him to get out of it, but let's take what he said metaphorically. He could do it. _We can do it._

But first, Jaemin had to find a way to stifle his laughter, or he'll be cackling like a hyena all the way home.

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first attempt at omegaverse. I hope it's a good attempt. 
> 
> ❤  
[ twitter](https://twitter.com/okaeythen?s=09)  
[curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/okaeyy)


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